You’re welcome, thanks for having us! Hunter, man, did you hear that? He said punk rock. Dude, we’re hard rock. Oh, right. But still, it’s awesome that you’re having us here, Newt.
I think it depends on the circumstances. Some guys know each other their whole lives, develop a love for music, and that leads to bigger and better things down the road. With us, it was just kind of tossed at us. I’d first like to address that we aren’t a boy band. I personally define “boy band” as a group of teenage boys who are all “OMG look at my studliness” like NSync and, yes, Backstreet Boys. We’re not like that; we’re about music, not fashion. But as for how we formed, we were lucky. I started writing songs back in high school, and I taught myself guitar back in seventh grade. Living in Bridgeport was an inspiration, and that helped me realize what I really wanted to do. But you can’t be a band if you can only play one instrument. Then I saw Dalton on his drums one night at a club, and I knew we had to jam together sometime. hen one thing led to another. Forgive Garrett. He’s our official songwriter, so sometimes he can be really verbal. Plus he hates us being referred to as a boy band. What he’s trying to say is, to form any kind of band, you can’t sit around and wait for a band to come to you. Sometimes you have to go out and look for a band. If you’ve got the money, take out an ad in the local newspaper. That’s how we found Tanner, and Hunter happened to see the same ad. He called Tanner so they could work together and we all ended up jamming. Now who’s being verbal?
Try to avoid the fan girls. No, just kidding. I’ve got the same advice that everyone seems to have – don’t give up. My advice to boy bands would be to man up. The problem is, singing isn’t an activity that’s always considered very masculine. A lot of haters out there are convinced that all members of boy bands are actually gay. Nothing against gays, but I’m just saying, that’s not true at all. A band is comprised of a group of people, regardless of gender, who share a love for music. Yeah, but there are a lot of hard rock groups out there, and they aren’t considered “boy bands.” They’re just considered “bands.” That’s what we’re striving for. But no matter what your image is, you can’t let the haters get y ou down. Whether you’re a pop, rock, country, or rap band, you can’t let haters get to you. Just keep doing what you love, and in the end, that’s the most important thing. But having fans also helps too.
To be honest, I came to Bridgeport to be a solo artist and make it on my own. But I just wasn’t having any luck getting gigs. So one day I skimmed the paper and happened to see Tanner’s ad. It said he was a keyboard player looking to possibly form a band with someone local. I called him up, and he said he’d already met with two other guys, but that I should hit them up too. I had to take piano lessons as a kid, and I absolutely hated them. But as I got older, I realized I was pretty good on the thing, so I got my own keyboard. Of course, I stayed away from that classical crap I had to learn and just started cranking out stuff that felt natural. Turns out, what was natural to me was rock and roll. But I’ve never been comfortable singing, at least not by myself, so I figured I’d take out an ad and see if I could get someone to jam with and get some gigs. Turned out to be the best spur of the moment thing I’ve ever done. Well I mentioned earlier that I met Dalton at a club; I had a gig at the same place that night. I saw him tearing up those drums and knew I had to ask him to jam with me. Then we saw Tanner’s ad and figured we’d hit him up. Yeah, that’s pretty much the story. Happy coincidences, really. What are the odds?
I’m from Appaloosa Plains, and my parents are crazy country fanatics. Everything I heard up until middle school was country. Then I got into rap, and high school was all about metal. But nothing can compare to just good, hard rock and roll. My influences are definitely Three Days Grace, Papa Roach, and Seether.
I’m sure you’ve noticed, but our songs so far tend to be pretty dark and not all unicorns and rainbows. That’s because I’m the official songwriter, and I just feel more comfortable writing songs that don’t give a false sense of reality. I mean, come on, what’s more real – being beat up by a bully or a chick actually being all “hooray” because her boyfriend cheated on her and she dumps him? My inspirations are Shinedown and D isturbed. I’ve always been a hard-core rock music fan. Never touched country and didn’t care much for rap, but rock and metal are just awesome. Oh, and I can’t forget Hinder; that guy’s voice is just incredible. He’s my inspiration for singing; Metallica, on the other hand, is the s**t! The way they play those guitars is sweet! I spent more time trying to earn the “Enter Sandman” solo than I probably should have… I’d have to say my big inspirations are Nickelback, Trapt, and Linkin Park. I had to endure classical music because of my piano lessons, but when I wasn’t in that hell, I was jamming to everything, really. I even have a few select country songs that I don’t mind…but these guys are always giving me crap for it. Country music?! That is so not punk rock! Yeah, you don’t have to tell me that country isn’t punk rock. Country isn’t rock period, though lately it seems to have started to delve into pop. Don’t get me started on country.
We basically have to find a common ground. We all came from pretty different music backgrounds, but we all share a common love of rock and roll. We knew right away that if we formed a band, that would be our genre. It’s really not hard to make it work since we all have the same basic interests. We all view rock music the same; what differs is what we grew up with. Especially Dalton and Tanner.
If I have to hear one more country song off of Tanner’s iPod, I will personally throw it out the window and watch it get run over by a semi. Dude, now
is what’s not punk rock.
What? Dude, we aren’t a boy band! We’re not gay! There is no bromance going on! Calm down, Garrett. I think he means we’re males in a band…I hope. Anyway, we’re still working on our debut album, but honestly, we don’t want to rush it. We’d rather take our time and get it perfect before releasing it to the public. Too bad a certain gaming company we all know and love can’t do the same thing. But we want our fans to be happy and get their money’s worth. But it will definitely be out before the end of the year, and it’s hard to believe, but that’s right around the corner.
Garrett: We were ready to go public with our band and make ourselves known. The SIFF Band Challenged seemed like the perfect way to do t hat. And it came at the most convenient time, too. We’re psyched to be a part of it. As for the last boy band losing to Toxic Dream, we shouldn’t have to worry about that, because, again, we are NOT a boy band.
Right from the start, we knew what we wanted to do with “Bully.” Bullying is a serious issue that plagues people across the world every day. This video portrays that, but it also shows that in the end, bullies are cowards who amount to nothing. The victims, if they’re strong enough to stand up to the bullies, turn out to be more in life, more successful and happy. We wanted this to be a music video with an awesome song and a powerful message, and I think we really accomplished that.
: Of course we have fans! And yes, there are a lot of fan girls. I guess that’s the price we have to pay for being so hot. (laughs) Fan girls are psycho. Yeah…in answer to the question, fans can find us on Facebook by searching for Nemesis (https://www.facebook.com/pages/Nemesis/203904386427228). We’re thinking about getting a Twitter or Tumblr, but we haven’t decided yet.
Personally, I see Nemesis still going strong in five years. And that includes with Hunter, even though his original plan was to fly solo. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we really enjoy what we do, we have a great time hanging out together, and we’re like brothers from another mother. (the band high-fives)
Thanks for having us, and we’ll see you at the event! Rock on!